
a-Shell
*Local* Unix terminal (& ssh)
Free · Designed for iPad
Local Unix terminal for iOS. Run C, C++, Python, JS, sh & all Unix commands locally on your phone, no network connection required.
Powerful when combined with Shortcuts.
a-Shell is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on your iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. You can work with git repositories using lg2.
Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with the BSD Unix that powers iOS/iPadOS.
a-Shell includes Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C, C++ for programming and TeX (texlive 2025, with Tikz and LuaTeX) for text processing.
There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands.
a-Shell can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps...
a-shell uses iOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python.
Compile your C or C++ programs to webAssembly using clang or clang++, and execute the resulting binary. A complete webAssembly SDK is included (WASI-libc).
a-Shell is the complete version. If you need a smaller app, and you don't need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib, there is a-Shell mini.
Ratings & Reviews
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- new command: rsync
- updated Python to version 3.13
- added scipy, scikit-learn, seaborn...
- fixed issues with buttons and iOS 26
- fixed bugs with man, less, nnn, scp...
The developer, Nicolas Holzschuch, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Provider
- Nicolas Holzschuch
- Size
- 2 GB
- Category
- Developer Tools
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 14.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 14.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 14.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
English and 6 more
- English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish
- Age Rating
16+
- 16+
- Contains
Unrestricted Web Access
- Copyright
- © Nicolas Holzschuch